Practice
by L.O.A.D
Summary: The GAang needs some practice fighting firebenders. Luckily, there happens to be one handy.
1. Sokka

**This whole story takes place between TBR and TSR.**

Zuko sat crosslegged, eyes closed, facing the sun as it rose. He tensed as he heard footsteps behind him but relaxed when he heard the person trip and a familiar voice cry out in surprise.

"You're not very good Sokka," he sadi calmly, not even bothering to open his eyes. "Why are you bothering me?"

"Why are you up so early?" Sokka retorted. "Plotting against us?" It was a joke, but it stil put Zuko on edge.

"I rise with the sun," Zuko said calmly. "It's a firebender thing."

"Actually," Sokka said, "that's exactly why I wanted to talk to you. We're going to be fighting the fire nation pretty soona and I want to make sure I'm ready. So, I was thinking, maybe you could help me train." Zuko opened his eyes and stood up.

"So you want me to shoot fire at you while you try to dodge?" He asked. Sokka shruuged.

"Pretty much," he said. Zuko thought about it for a moment before shrugging.

"Alright," he said. "Give me a few minutes then meet me in the practice area."

* * *

"Alright," Zuko said as he and Sokka circle each other. Sokka had brought his space sword while Zuko had come unarmed. "We may run into a bit of a problem wih this practice."

"And what would that be?" Sokka asked. "Did you loose your jerkbending again?" Zuko sighed and shook his head.

"No," he said. "The problem is, unless I actually attack you, there's no way to make this training completely realistic. Example," Zuko looked at Sokka, the water-tribe teen was leaning on his sword cleaning his ear. "My sister would have killed you by now."

"Alright," Sokka said. "Everytime you see me do something that you think would get me killed, just say 'Kill.' Then we can fix it." Zuko nodded. before Sokka could react, a fire ball hit the ground at his feet. He jumped back and stumbled, falling on his rear.

"Hey!" He snapped. "I thought you _weren't_ going to try and kill me!"

"I'm not, but I'm not going to go easy on you," Zuko snapped back. With what could only be descibed as a growl, he shot fire directly at Sokka, though it was aimed a little higher than if it had been a real fight. Sokka ducked and waited for Zuko to stop. He lifted his sword over his head and stood up.

"Kill," Zuko said calmly. Sokka stood there.

"What?" He asked. "How?"

"You left your chest unprotected," Zuko replied. "If I had been Azula, you'd be shot with lighning right now."

"Aw man," Sokka moaned.

"Well, hold on," Zuko said. "Let's go again. Just don't give me an obvious opening and stay quick on your feet." Sokka nodded and charged at Zuko. Zuko jumped over Sokka and punched him in the back.

"Kill," he repeated. "If I had been Firebending, you'd be dead." Sokka sighed.

"Any suggestions?" He asked.

"If I ever become Firelord, don't try to assassinate me?" Zuko suggested, smiling awkwardly. Sokka sighed.

"I'm goign to go practice with Boomerang," he said before leaving.

**So Sokka's being moppy because he can't beat Zuko in a practice run.**


	2. The Duke

The Duke had to admit, he had been frightened of the Fire Nation Prince when he had first arrived. He had been frightened of how Zuko kept to himself. He had been frightened because he was a firebender. He had been frightened of how Zuko was the first one to wake up.

But most of all, he had been frightened of his scar.

After a few days had past, The Duke had gotten used to the prince. Finally, he was confident enough to go talk to him.

* * *

Zuko was running through what he was going to teach Aang by himself when a noise from behind him startled the ex-prince. he jumped, and it took all his self control not to firebend the bush. From out of it came a young boy. Zuko looked at him, trying to remember what his name was.

"Duke?" He asked. "Right?" The Duke frowned.

"It's _The_ Duke," he whined. Zuko nodded.

"Right, sorry," he said. He looked back at the kid. "So, what do you want?"

"How did you get your scar?" The kid asked. Zuko looked down at him.

"An Agni Kai," he said slightly, hoping that would be the end of it. It wasn't.

"What's that?" The Duke asked.

"Fire duel," he said. Luckily for him, The Duke didn't ask anymore questions about his scar. He had become distracted by Zuko's dual swords.

"Can you teach me to use these?" He asked. Zuko sighed and nodded. He handed the swords to The Duke and stood behind him.

"Remember," he said, "these aren't seperate swords. They're two halves of one whole." The Duke nodded. He swung the swords around, accidentally hitting Zuko in the leg. Zuko grit his teeth to keep from crying out.

"Sorry," The Duke said.

"It's alright," Zuko said. "But maybe you should stop for now." The Duke nodded and put the swords down before running off to find Toph.


	3. Toph

"Hey Sparky!" Toph yelled, using her earthbending to knock the former crown prince of the fire nation out of his mediations. A column of rock shot out of the ground and knocked Zuko back about ten feet.

"Ow," he said, rubbing his bruised chest. "What was that for!"

"We're going to train," Toph said. "I want to get more practice in fighting firebenders." Zuko winced as he got up.

"Alright," he said. "I really should be helping Aang tho..."

"Twinkle-Toes can wait," Toph said. "I need to practice." Before Zuko could react she hurled a rock at him, hitting him square in the chest and knocking the wind out of him. Groaning, he stood up, just barely dodging another rock. He spun on his heels and sent a fireball at Toph. She lifted up a wall of earth, blocking the attack. She lowered the wall and sent another rock in his direction. He jumped out of the way, but the moment his feet hit the ground it changed into a pool of mud. He sank down to his waist and the ground hardened. Two pillars of earth shot up and covered his hands. Slowly, Toph lowered these into the ground, trapping and disabling the prince. Toph smiled.

"I win," she said. She walked over and stomped the ground. She grabbed Zuko's hair and pulled him out of the hole. "You might want to practice though. If this was a real fight i could ahev crushed you."

"Thanks for the advise," Zuko said, brushing off his shirt. Smiling, Toph punched Zuko in the arm and left.


	4. Haru

They day after he had trained with Toph, Zuko was approached by the other Earthbender in the group. He looked at him, struggling to put a name to the face.

"Teo?" He asked. The other teen shook his head.

"I'm Haru," he said. Zuko nodded.

"Right," he said. "Sorry. I don't think we've formally met." The Earthbender, Haru, nodded.

"Right," he said. "You're Prince Zuko, right?"

"Former," Zuko replied. "I can't imagine my father thinks of me as a son anymore." He sighed and looked at Haru. "Why are you here?" Haru swallowed and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Well, you see," he began, "we're going to have to fight the Fire Nation, and I wanted to..."

"...get some practice in fighting a Firebender," Zuko finished. Haru nodded.

"How did you know?" He asked.

"Sokka and Toph came to me with the same problem," he said. "And to be honest I'm not looking forward to sparring with an Earthbender again." Haru held his hands up in defence.

"I just want to practice some defensive moves," he said. "But if you're busy we don't have to." Zuko shook his head.

"Aang is down by the river training with Katara," he said. "We can train until they get back." Haru nodded and the both got into a fighting stance. With a grunt, Zuko punched in Haru's direction, sending a fireball in the Earthbender's direction. Haru bent down and lifted up a wall off earth to stop the attack. He puched the wall and sent a small boulder in Zuko's direction. He let out a startled yelp and dove out of the way.

"I thought you were practicing defensive moves?" Zuko snapped. He stood up and aimed for the hole in the rock wall. Haru fell backwards just in time to not be hit.

"Sorry," he said. "I got carried away." Zuko growled and lunged at him, knocking him to the ground.

"Sorry," Zuko mocked. "I got carried away." He stood over Haru for a moment before helping the other teen to his feet.

"If this was a real fight I could have killed you," Zuko said. "A soldier won't show mercy. Don't let yourself get knocked down." Zuko laughed. "I can't believe I'm telling an Earthbender he needs to keed his ground." Haru nodded and looked around.

"Maybe some other time," he said. Zuko nodded.

"Yeah," he said. "Maybe."


End file.
